Siping machine for continuous strip material



Q United States Patent 11 1 3,5 39,126

[72] Inventor Forrest Clayton Meserve [56] References Cited North AIldOVCI', Massachusetts UNITED STATES PATENTS [2 1 PP 692586 1,107,771 8/1914 Ezbelent 26/69 1 Filed Dec. 21, 1967 2 554 683 5/1951 R0 ers 83/169 [451 2'905999 9/1959 P k t l 26 69 [73] Assignee AmericanBiltrite Rubber Co., Inc. 30250l0 3/1962 i? ere a I Chelsea, Massachusetts 1tche11 242/55.13(D) on Delaware 3,039,520 6/1962 Meserve... 157/13 3,405,880 10/1968 Bielert 242/568 FOREIGN PATENTS SWING MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS STRIP 1,135,532 12/1956 France 26/70 g ggi z b H 5 Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz g g Attorneyl(enway, .lenney & Hildreth [52] U.S. C1 242/56, 242/673, 242/751; [51] Int. Cl B6Sh 35/08,

B65h 17/08 ABSTRACT: A machine for making siping slashes in a con- [50] Field of Search 242/56, tinuous strip or ribbon of sheet material of indefinite length to 56.2, 56.3, 56.4, 56.5, 56.6, 56.7, 56.8, 75.2, 75.1, 55.13,-67. l/67.2/67.3/67.4/67.5; 83/5, 649 169,661,226; l57/13;226l171, 183;

26/69; 28/1(cs), 77(cs) improve the traction characteristic thereof and employing for that purpose a rotary helical knife in association with synchronized feeding and tensioning means for the treated work piece.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet Patented Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet 2 of2 INVENTOR. iC'ly/m M WM$M SIPING MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS STRIP MATERIAL This invention comprises a new and improved machine for improving the friction and traction characteristic of sheet or ribbon stock by forming in its surface siping slashes. One useful product of the machine is described in the copending application of Edward M. Rothermel Ser. No. 642,916 filed June 1; 1967, as a traction cover for the takeoff roll of a loom.

Ordinarily this takeoff mechanism includes a roll which may be 8 inches to 16 inches in diameter and which has its surface covered with sheet material having a high coefficient of friction. The roll is driven at a speed consistent with the rate of weaving and is ordinarily provided with auxiliary snub rollers so that the woven fabric may be snubbed around a substantial arc of the takeoff roll which then serves to pull the woven fabric through the loom. The tension required to pull the woven fabric through the loom against the resistance of the creel, warp beam and other loom parts is very considerable so that the loom takeoff roll surface must in practice develop a high traction in respect to the cloth or the strands with which it is to deal.

In the operation of looms it is also important to maintain the long warp yarns under appreciable and uniform tension in their up and down movement timed to the reciprocation of the shuttle. Roll covers of rubber and vinyl compounds have been used heretofore for these purposes with varying success, but it has been found difficult to produce a surface having adequate friction or traction properties without making it so coarse or rough as locally to indent the surface of delicate fabrics which may be woven and which have their surface adversely affected by any surface imprint imparted by the takeoff roll. Such imprints are sometimes called star marks. One of the most successful surfaces heretofore employed is the so-called sandpaper finish as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,156,871 May 2, 1939. A serious difficulty of all such random pattern surfaces developed from sandpaper, crepe rubber or the like is the tendency of certain areas to contain local areas of higher friction or greater height than other areas so that local stresses and consequently objectionable indentations appear in the woven fabric, or sagging of occasional warp strands.

The machine of the present invention is characterized by a takeoff reel and a supply reel rotatably mounted in spaced relation and a helical knife synchronized to operate on the ribbon or sheet stock while in motion in passing from one reel to the other.

A desirable feature of the preferred machine consists in a transmission roll rotated by engagement with the siped ribbon or strip as it is coiled on the takeoff reel and driving the supply reel at the same linear speed by contact with the diminishing supply coil of the untreated strip. If desired a slight overdrive of the takeoff reel may be secured by employing transmission rolls of differential diameters.

Another feature of the novel machine comprises brake means for maintaining the ribbon or strip under longitudinal tension throughout its zone of the cutting or siping operation on the stock. While machines of this general type have been heretofore employed for siping individual work pieces, such as shoe soles and tires, it is believed I have for the first time provided a machine capable of making siping slashes continuously on a traveling work strip or ribbon of indefinite length.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of the machine in elevation;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are fragmentary plan views of various parts of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a view in perspective of a fragment of the finished product; and 7 FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic sectional view on an enlarged scale of the machine parts at the operative point of the machine.

The term to sipe" will first be defined as it is used herein and in the plastics industry. As originally employed it meant to form in a tire a series of transverse slicing cuts without the removal of any material. The term came into use in connecor vulcanized by heat and pressure to form a smooth continu-;- ous surface and is herein shown as prepared in the form of-a ribbon or strip that may be approximately two inches in width with an overall thickness of three/sixteenth inch and an elastomeric ply of about one/eighth inch.

One very satisfactory pattern of siping is at 'an oblique angle of about 28 to the longitudinal axisof the strip material with aspacing of about one/eighth inch. In FIG. 5 a second set of siping incisions 14 is shown as forming a herringbone pattern with the first and in this case the included angle of the intersecting incisions is approximately 124. The precise composition of the ply 12 is of secondary importance so long as it is tough, resilient and elastic. Any one of a number of compounds based on natural or synthetic rubbers may be successfully used. See for example the rubber compound disclosed in the copending application of Edward M. Rothermel Ser. No. 642,916 filed June 1, 1967. i

In FIG. 1 is suggested a preferred form of machine for converting the otherwise finished strip or ribbon to the siped condition shown in FIG. 5 in which it may serve as a loom roll cover material. The machine includes a frame 20 havinga transverse tubular supply reel 21 secured to one side member in position to support a rotary supply coil 10' of the untreated strip or ribbon. An adjustable steady rest 22 is fitted into the open end of the reel 21 and this rest may be retracted to facilitate the removal or introduction of work to the machine.

The untreated ribbon 10' passes from the reel 21 to the right as seen in FIG. 1 and is partially wrapped about a large presser roll 23 supported by bearings 24 on the arms of a cradle or yoke 25.

The yoke 25 has adjustable pivotal connection with a pair of perforated uprights 26 and may be rocked at its free end by an adjusting screw 27 for the purpose of regulating the pressure of the roll 23. This roll may be in the nature of a tire and is employed to exert a continuous and yielding pressure upon the work as it arrives at the operating siping position in the machine.

The untreated strip 10' is passed partially about the pressure roll 23 beneath. a friction strap 28 carried by a pair of rockers 29 and 29' of which one is mounted for rocking adjustment by a screw 30. The purpose of the friction strap is to insure that the work shall be maintained under appreciable and uniform tension in its passage through the operating zone in which the siping slashes are formed.

Beneath the cradle 25 and the pressure roll 23 is provided a rectangular tank 31 for liquid lubricant and having bearings for a driven shaft 32 carrying a threaded drum 33 from which projects a helical knife 34. The work strip or ribbon 10 passes between the nip of the pressure roll 23 and the threaded circumference of the drum 33, being indented and advanced by the threads of the drum. In each revolution of the drum the helical knife 34 makes one siping slash in the surface of the interposed work strip. It will be seen that the strip is continuously advanced toward the left in FIG. 1 and that the cutting edge of the rotary helical knife travels axially in the same direction and speed as the strip. This is due to the fact that the pitch of the drum threads and of the helical knife 34 are identical so that their feeding and siping slashes are synchronized.

As the siped ribbon leaves the siping zone it is passed across a wiping pad 35 which removes lubricating fluid from the knife and returns surplus fluid to the tank 31.

From the wiper 35 the strip passes to and through an electrically heated oven 36 where the siped strip is subjected to a final drying step. Forced air circulation through the oven is maintained by a fan 37 at the outlet end of the oven. Upon leaving the oven 36 the siped and dried strip is guided upwardly to the takeoff reel 38 mounted on a driven transverse shaft 39 journaled in bearings carried by the frame 20.

The supply coil upon the reel 21 and the reel itself are driven from the rotating takeoff coil 10' by an interposed knurled transmission roll 40 journaled on a jack shaft 41. This shaft is carried between two arms 42 suspended freely from upwardly inclined supporting beams 44 which in turn are pivotally mounted on a cross shaft 45 joumaled upon the side members of the frame 20. The transmission roll 40 is therefore at all times pressed into the nip of the two coils l and and maintains its transmitting action as the supply coil diminishes in diameter and as the takeoff coil is built up. A pair of guide fingers 46 mounted in the cross shaft 45 engage the sides of the coil 10 and insure that it is built up squarely.

Motive power is supplied to the machine by driving connections, not shown, to the shaft 32 of the drum. As has been explained the drum 33 drives the presser roll 23 through its threaded connection. The presser roll 23 draws the work strip toward it and thereby rotates the supply reel 21, the transmission roll 40 and the takeoff reel 38.

A modification of the transmission drive is shown in FIG. 4 where the transmission roll 50 is mounted on a freely rotating sleeve 51 together with a transmission roll 52 of slightly larger diameter. The roll 50 is located to run in driving contact with the coil 10' and the roll 52 to run in driven contact with the coil 10 with the result that a slight overdrive is imparted to the takeoff reel tending to maintain the treated strip under continuous tension.

It will be understood that the strip 10' is run through the machine in one direction to form the siping slashes l3 and in a reverse direction end-for-end to form the slashes l4.

Iclai m:

l. A machine of the class described comprising a supply reel i for a continuous strip of sheet material, a takeoff reel arranged for drawing a strip, continuously from the supply reel, means 3,; including a threaded strip-feeding drum for driving the two reels at substantially the same linear speed, together with a common driving roll running in contact sim ta neously with the strip material on both of the reels. V I

3. A machine as described in claim 1, further characterized in that a tension strap is provided to act in cooperation with the presser roll to maintain the strip under tension as it approaches the intermittently acting knife.

4. A machine of the class described in claim 1, further comprising a frame, means rotatably mounting said supply reel and takeoff reel-in said frame in spaced relation, the moving strip being directed between the said supply reel and takeoff reel into the path of a said knife, said knife being a revolving helical knife moving axially with the strip material.

5. A machine as described in claim 1, further characterized in that the strip material is passed about a substantial portion of the circumference of the presser roll on its way to the siping knife and that an elongated friction strap is maintained under spring pressure in engagement with the strip material upon the presser roll.

6. A machine as described in claim 1 further characterized in that the continuous strip of material is drawn off the supply roll by its engagement between the threaded drum and the cooperating presser roll. 

